Christians and Justice

Scripture instructs both the state and the individual to do justice. Christ, for example, tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27), and offers the parable of the Good Samaritan in order to help us to understand that the stranger, too, is my neighbor and entitled to be treated justly (Luke 10:29–37). The Old Testament is replete with calls for justice and condemnations of injustice (e.g., Isa. 58:6–10; Deut. 24:19–22; Prov. 31:8–9). The Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:2–17) tell us something of God’s plan for a rightly ordered, or socially just, community. We are to worship God, honor our mothers and fathers, remain faithful to our spouses, not covet our neighbors’ property or spouse, maintain integrity in word and deed, and respect the intrinsic dignity of human life. In political terms this can be translated to the government respecting and privileging religious liberty, the right to life, private property, traditional marriage, male-female parenthood, and integrity in public life.